How Morning Pages Transformed My Writing

In the first creative writing class I took (Washtenaw Community College, 1986), the instructor told us to journal every morning when we wake up. Don’t worry about what we write about; just write.

I didn’t adopt this specific habit, but I did try to write in the morning, working on short stories and novels. None of that work amounted to much.

About thirty years later, I attended an online workshop (Corey Mandel’s Screenwriting) and he said roughly the same thing: journal every morning morning, free-writing on whatever. He further explained how important it was to tap into your subconscious. The best creativity is there beyond the curtain of consciousness, and we have to find a way to tap into it.

At last, I adopted the morning pages habit. It improved the quality of my writing, and the depth of my storytelling. Now I write morning pages every day, and turn to free-writing and journaling for my most reliable way to solve problems in my creative projects.

Morning pages have become my most consistent writing practice. They set my mood, build my writing skills, and give me hope. It’s a quiet, kind of secret thing I do for myself that makes each day better, and has helped me write several novels, novellas, and screenplays.

Everyone should journal, but artists will have the most fun with it.

If you’re not familiar, morning pages refers to the practice of journaling early in your day. The journaling can be about anything but it’s best to make it about your creative practice. If you’re a novelist, journal about your challenges, fears, and hopes as a novelist. If you’re a painter, musician, or actor, journal about that.

The term “morning pages” was popularized by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way. The magic of morning pages comes from fulfilling the promise to yourself to show up and journal about your day.

There’s no specific formula. You can write about your dreams, or what you’d like to eat, or some random memory that popped into your head. It’s your ritual, and you get to make it whatever you want.

Creative projects can be lonely work. When it’s just you and a word processor, or just you and a blank canvas, or just you and a guitar, you must will yourself to carve out time, show up, and practice your craft. There won’t be anyone watching over you, and no one will congratulate you on the work.

I hope the craft is fun for you, because doing something fun will be the biggest draw to show up. Still, life is messy and busy, and it can be near impossible some days to put in the work.

Morning pages are a low barrier way to warm up, build momentum, and remind yourself what matters in life.

After many years of following the ritual, I find morning pages to be my most trusted tool.

On days when I’ve had a vivid dream, I write about it. Or if I had a frustrating day, I vent a bit, then work out what I might have done differently.

Always, I journal about the current projects, and what I’d like to accomplish the rest of the day.

When I write about my dreams, I’m strengthening the communications between my subconscious and conscious life. The best creativity comes from the subconscious, and tapping into it is what releases magic in your work.

I often have great ideas for my projects that emerge in the morning pages. I used to scramble to jot them down in different notebooks so that I can incorporate them, but I learned that those ideas stay with me and are at the ready when I sit down to write. It was shocking at first, but now my confidence has grown.

Granted, there have been times when I can’t quite conjure them when needed, so I return to the morning pages notebook and remind myself.

Morning pages are in my top-five for creativity tools.

To get started, grab some paper and a pen, find a comfortable, quiet spot, and journal for a while. You can write about anything, but here are some specific suggestions to get you started:

- How was your sleep?

- Is there a dream you remember?

- How did your day go yesterday?

- Did you make progress on any of your creative projects?

- Is there a new idea you’d like to pursue?

- What do you want to work on today?

Again, don’t think you have to methodically answer those questions each day. You’re not interrogating yourself for crimes against creativity.

You’re taking some “me time” to center your thoughts, remind yourself what you care about, and motivate yourself to advance your projects.

I’ve settled on a Moleskine classic, hardbound journal, 4.5” x 7”. It’s big enough that I don’t feel crowded, yet small enough that I’m not intimidated by the blank page. It’s about the size of a greeting card, and you can fill a greeting card pretty quickly.

If I’m flooded with thoughts, I might fill a few pages. Most days, I try to fill in two sides of one page. That’s enough to cover what I worked on the day before, a dream or a new idea, and what I’d like to work on this coming day.

It only takes fifteen minutes, but it fuels me for the next twelve hours. That’s a bargain, and we all love a bargain.